The Union government attempted to engage with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in London following the latter’s “Democracy Index” ranking of India, which classified India as a “flawed democracy.”
This admission was made in a letter written by the Union law ministry on July 15 to the Rajya Sabha secretariat, seeking to disallow a question by an MP on the “Indian Position in Democracy Index,” which was due for answer on July 22. The ministry stated that the issue was delicate.
“The Rajya Sabha Secretariat is requested to refer to the Provisionally Admitted Question… raised by Smt. Shanta Chhetri, M.P., due for answer on 22 Jul, 2021 on “Indian Position in Democracy Index… In this regard, it is to state that question raised by the Hon’ble Member is very sensitive in nature. As per the report of the Economic Intelligence Unit, United Kingdom (the publishing agency), the primary cause of the democratic regression, inter alia, was an erosion of civil liberties and the authorities handling the coronavirus pandemic in the country,” the letter said.
The letter also noted that the methodology adopted by EIU to deduce the rankings was not shared and noted that the rankings were arrived without consulting any government agencies. “This (law) ministry made efforts to establish contacts with the said publishing agency to know the methodology adopted by it and the sample size considered by it to arrive the said rankings. However, the said agency is not willing to divulge the required information. Further, these ranking were arrived by independent studies without consulting any government agencies,” it noted.
“Hence, this ministry do not have any information or data pertaining to the to the said Index. As such it is very difficult to this ministry to answer the said question because it involves information on trivial matters and raises matters not under the control of bodies or persons not primarily responsible to the Government of India subject matter of the question. Hence, in terms of the rule 47 (xv) and 47(xviii) of the Rules of the Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, it appears this question is inadmissible. The above facts may please be placed before the Hon’ble Chairman to decide the admissibility of the question. This Ministry has no objection to the above facts being conveyed to the Hon’ble Member,” it added.
The admissibility of notice given by members in respect of questions in the Rajya Sabha is governed by Rules 47-50 of the Rules and Procedure and Conduct of the Council of States, according to the Rajya Sabha website (Rajya Sabha).
“(XV) it shall not ask for information on trivial matters; (XVIII) it shall not raise matters under the control of bodies or persons not primarily responsible to the Government of India,” the ministry states in the aforementioned subsections.
